Movie Update VII

Okay, let me knock some of these out. I’ve seen these movies over the last week and a half.

The Manchurian Candidate (#95) – An interesting story, but pretty predictable until you get to the final twist. Then it’s completely predictable. Also, Frank Sinatra is not a good actor. This movie does have perhaps the cheesiest martial arts fight ever captured on film. Think Sinatra in a kung-fu movie, for a couple of minutes. I don’t recommend this one.

All About Eve (#81) – Here is another classic movie that I thought was very good. It’s a story of a young girl trying to make it in Hollywood who becomes enamored by an actress. If you catch it on TV, I say watch it, but unless you are really into old movies, I don’t recommend running out and getting it.

Chinatown (#46) – I had thought about removing any Roman Polanski movies from my list. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize this was a Polanski movie until it started. This is a noir film staring Jack Nicholson. It is purely a mystery movie and I thought it was very good. It has all the elements of a classic gumshoe story and nothing more. If you want to see a good mystery, and don’t mind seeing something by Polanski, give it a try.

Life is Beautiful (#86) – I’ve already talked about this, so I won’t rehash my thoughts other than to say you need to see this movie.

The Third Man (48) – Another Orson Wells movie. Another mystery movie, but it was far too predictable. I had the move almost completely figured out before the first 1/3. While the scenery is beautiful, the shots perfect, and the acting superb, the story was lacking. However, if you can put up with a lack of story in exchange for a beautiful film, you’ll probably like it.

Alien (#52) – I had seen parts of this movie when I was a kid, but never the whole thing. I really liked this film. It looks like it drew heavily from 2001, but had so much more story. I know I was in the minority for having never seen this one before, but if you are in that minority, I recommend you get out and watch this movie. It is great.

Aliens (#68) – Leave it to James Cameron. This movie was too much… well, everything. I didn’t like this one at all, the original was far superior. Maybe I should have seen the original theatrical release and not the “Restored (James Cameron ego-trip) version” that was nearly 2.5 hours.

There are a few others I’ll post in the next day or two.